Lately I've been closing the bottom and top vents on my Weber as soon as I'm done cooking. The charcoal that doesn't completely burn up can be used the next time, so instead of lighting a whole chimney for my next cook I just light half a chimney and pour those coals on the old coals. It's been awhile since I've used a whole chimney and I'm definitely saving money on charcoal this summer. Anybody else do this? Any reason not to?

Lately I've been closing the bottom and top vents on my Weber as soon as I'm done cooking. The charcoal that doesn't completely burn up can be used the next time, so instead of lighting a whole chimney for my next cook I just light half a chimney and pour those coals on the old coals. It's been awhile since I've used a whole chimney and I'm definitely saving money on charcoal this summer. Anybody else do this? Any reason not to?

Yes - I do it all the time. I could never do this with my old Chargriller (could never seal off good enough to snuff the fire), but once I got my Gator I've done it ever since. Nothing wrong with that!

Sounds like standard procedure in Kamado cookers; last time I used my CharGriller I transfered the coals into the Akorn and closed it up. Used the remnant next cook in the Akorn. I left them on the bottom and put new lit charcoal on top.

i do this all the time too.one of the reasons i started using my weber kettle more.i orignally bought it for that old school felling but now love the control.

like jay said my chargriller would just use it all up.i've barely used my chargriller this year.if i continue its lack of use i may have to craigslist it.but i have more space on it for the bigger cooks.decisions decisions.

I do this quite often when using my Weber Kettle. It sure makes the charcoal last a lot longer!

Same here. While my CG doesn't burn up the charcoal completely anymore since I made some more modifications, there still isn't a lot of charcoal left in the basket after a cook. However, my little Weber Smokey Joe Platinum always has a lot of charcoal left after a cook so I reuse it often.

Unlike propane, you'll never wake up scorched and naked in another county because you mishandled a bag of briquettes.